Skepticism

EVENTS

François Jacob has died

Jacob and Jacques Monod, who won the Nobel Prize in 1965 for their work on the lac operon, were the fellows who really put gene regulation on the map, working out the mechanisms behind switching genes off and on in response to environmental cues. I always talk about their work on day one of my developmental biology courses; everything else in molecular genetics and development are built on the foundation they laid down.

Spent all of Thursday and Friday teaching/discussing the lac and tryp operons to my AP bio classes. About 1/3 of my 18 students were intrigued, raised thoughtful questions, and recognized the evolutionary significance of their research. The rest of my students appeared bored and resentful that we were “wasting” time on bacterial gene expression (they only seem interested in “awesome” human biology) . Needless to say, these 12 students are either young-earthers or dyed-in-the-wool creationists. To them, nothing speaks to evolution. Wish I had known Jacob was an atheist…would have snuck that little tid-bit into the presentation.

BTW, Ross Nixon, you life is over with. You are now the walking dead. You blew it.

Brahma hates Pascal’s wager. Which is what you just slimed out.

You will be sent back in your next reincarnation as a tape worm or flea. It will take you at least a million years worth of lives to even be reincarnated as a vertebrate, a cow if you are lucky, a chicken if not.

But Brahma always gives people multiple chances. So just try to be the best tape worm you can and hope you don’t blow it again and reincarnate as a weed.

I can’t believe that anyone would be bored by Jacob and Monod’s work. Sure, everybody in their time knew that DNA coded for proteins but the catch was that no one had any idea how a cell “knew” how to use the info in its DNA to make the right proteins at the right times. Biology doesn’t get more awesome than that.

I’m old enough that when I was being educated in basic biology, the lac operon was still the only example of gene regulation understood well enough to be taught. Lots of folks standing on these dead shoulders.

Also, both Monod and Jacob wrote remarkable books for the educated public.

Monod’s “Chance and Necessity” should be to gene regulation what the Selfish Gene is to evolution. It explains the workings of proteins with DNA and with each other, and puts them into the general context of a theory of what is a living being.

Note that there are entire chapters devoted to countering both religious nonsense, and the then-current idiocy of Marxist anti-science. While the specifics are dated, the general idea is still highly relevant.

Jacob introduced brilliant metaphors, such as evolution as “jury-rigging” (bricolage), and the “dream” of a cell – becoming two cells.

If you want to introduce students to the actual working of gene regulation “in context”, these are highly recommended.